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I wouldn't know about Kerry Max Cook if it wasn't for Bob Ruff. I mentioned his podcast, Truth and Justice, in my post yesterday. This man is doing WORK when it comes to the wrongfully convicted.
Book I Haven't Read Yet: Chasing Justice: My Story of Freeing Myself After Two Decades on Death Row for a Crime I Didn't Commit by Kerry Max Cook.
Kerry is an innocent man who served about twenty years for the 1977 rape and murder of a 21 year old woman named Linda Jo Edwards. The case against him was circumstantial at best, and only tightened thanks to police corruption and prosecutorial misconduct.
The amount of evil in Smith County, Texas will make your head spin. Truth and Justice's second season covers the stories of Kerry Cook, Kenny Snow and Ed Ates. The struggles and injustices all three faced at the hands of the power hungry is unreal.
Why I Haven't Read It - Bob Ruff suggested reading Chasing Justice before listening to the aforementioned season of his podcast.
I'm a rule breaker. A rebel. I went ahead and dove in, listened to the entire season of the pod... so now I'm feeling a bit guilty. I'll be ordering my copy today.
Should You Read It?
Read it! Kerry has provided a free pdf online if you can't afford to purchase the book. READ, and then listen to Bob's podcast. Follow the rules. You'll be completely engrossed in these stories.
The stats on wrongfully convicted people are astounding. Some estimates figure that nearly 1,000 people are wrongfully convicted each year, and that more than half of wrongful convictions are a result of misconduct. Some reports state that black people are 7.5 times more likely to be wrongfully convicted of murder than whites, and that the risk is even greater if the victim is white.
Humanizing these people should spur you to action, as it has done for me. Check out the Truth and Justice website and reach out to the Innocence Project to learn more about how you can help.
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